Our call: young Londoners need help from all sides

THE Evening Standard today called for politicians from all sides to work together to boost the mental health and life chances of young people in London.

This newspaper urged swift action to address the challenges facing children and teenagers in our city in an open letter to the Government, Labour and London council leaders.

We set out the steps that should be taken to make life better for our young people, from ensuring schoolchildren have access to trained mental health counsellors to boosting the number of businesses that take work experience students.

It comes as part of our Step Up initiative which aims to address the gaps that exist in the life chances of young people from different backgrounds.

More than 7,000 teenagers and their parents joined our Step Up expo last summer, benefiting from potentially life-changing advice to help them navigate today’s complex careers and education landscape.